Published: Saturday, January 5, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, January 4, 2013 at 10:08 p.m.

Heather Stepp and her 7-month-old son, Ely, seriously injured in a head-on collision Dec. 3, attended a praise service at their church Sunday with countless friends and family.

Facts

Spaghetti supper benefit

A spaghetti supper benefit will be held from 4-8 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Upward Community Building at the corner of Upward and Howard Gap roads. Plates with spaghetti, salad, drink and dessert will be sold for $6 each. Takeout is available. All proceeds will go to the Stepp family to help with bills during Heather's and Ely's recovery. Hot Dog World, where Heather worked before the accident, hopes to hold a benefit for the family in March. For more information, call 828-458-4406 or 828-243-2864 or visit www.facebook.com/pages/Heather-and-Elys-Friends-and-Family-Page/145683518912564

Heather Stepp's mother and father say the two are living proof of the healing acts of prayer. Doctors doubted Ely would survive, but a brain hemorrhage turned out to be a popped blood vessel. They also questioned whether Heather Stepp would ever walk again.

Trooper Bryan Stroup said Paul Jeffrey Satterfield, 56, of Hendersonville was driving under the influence of drugs when he crossed the center line on Kanuga Road near London Road at about 12:15 p.m. on Dec. 3. Troopers say he crashed head-on into the SUV Heather Stepp was driving.

The force of the impact left Ely in critical condition with a brain injury, broken left leg, a cut on his liver and a skull fracture. Heather Stepp was admitted to the hospital with two broken feet in addition to a crushed left ankle and a broken right elbow.

Heather Stepp says she remembers the wreck. She remembers asking about her baby; she even remembers being placed in the MAMA helicopter that carried them from Pardee Hospital to Mission Hospital. But her first week in the hospital when Ely's prognosis was touch-and-go is a blur.

Family members said it was a “waiting game” in the early days, as Ely's doctor cut his sedation and pain medications and waited to gauge the extent of his brain damage. Ely moved and the family cheered... with caution.

“Pardee told us to go ahead and be prepared that he wasn't going to make it,” said Melissa Bradburn, Heather Stepp's mother.

“They said that with his brain injury his head would swell. They just didn't know how much; that they'd have to observe it for the next 72 hours,” Heather Stepp added. “And each day, his brain didn't swell. That was the life-threatening part — how much his brain would swell.”

The brain hemorrhage, doctors noted, turned out to be “just a blood vessel that had popped” and cleared up completely, she said.

Scott Bradburn, Heather Stepp's father, was with Ely when a nurse came in, fearing the worst, to run an EEG test. She was surprised with the results.

“She showed me the black line and she said, ‘A normal 6-month-old would have six spikes and he has four-and-a-half,'” recalled Scott Bradburn.

“They weren't expecting that at all,” Melissa Bradburn said. “He's just been a miracle.”

Heather Stepp knows the stories now, but for a week she was clueless to Ely's health, hanging on to the words of others who told her he was OK.

“I think it was because God knew everything would be okay and didn't want me to have to worry,” she said. “There was a man that stayed with me (at the wreck) and talked to me and made sure I was okay, but I don't remember his name... All I could think about was, how is Ely, where is Ely? So I kept asking, ‘How is Ely? Where is he?' The man beside me said, ‘Ely is fine. They're over there working on him and he's fine.' That helped calm me down. If they would have told me he's not breathing, I would have tried to be out of that car.”

At the hospital, Ely was given a tracheal intubation to help him breathe and was fitted with a feeding tube. Doctors said the assistance could be permanent, and told Heather Stepp they would have to send him home with a 24-hour nurse. But, to test his recovery, a doctor removed Ely's feeding and tracheostomy tubes before he left the hospital Dec. 27. Ely breathes and eats on his own today.

Heather Stepp, who was released from the hospital about a week after the wreck, returned to stay with her son.

Ely still wears a harness to help his broken femur heal, but is otherwise a happy baby. His voice is still a little hoarse from the tracheostomy, Heather Stepp said, but every sound he makes is music to her ears.

Doctors will still have to keep an eye on Ely's development with the brain injury, but for now, he's doing well.

“He's the miracle baby,” Melissa Bradburn said. “That's what people are calling him.”

A long road

Heather Stepp can walk on her right foot, but her right arm and left foot will take a while to heal. It will be a long road to recovery and probably six months before she can start physical therapy. At least one more surgery will be needed on her foot.

“They're going to have to fuse my ankle so I won't be able to run or do any of those kinds of activities. I probably won't be able to stand for long periods of time,” she said.

Churches all over the country, from Florida to Washington, have been praying for the Stepps.

“It's just been amazing,” Melissa Bradburn said. “I know that's the reason why Ely and her both are doing so well.”

The family has received cards by the bushels, stamped from all over, and more than 1,100 have followed Heather and Ely's recovery on Facebook.

“I mainly want to thank everybody for all their thoughts and prayers and all of the donations into our fund,” Heather Stepp said. “Everybody has been so generous and anytime I go anywhere people just hand me money and tell me that I'm in their prayers... We wouldn't have been able to get along without them and without their generosity.”

She and her husband, Bo, were out of work in December — Heather recovering with Bo by her side — but with the help of a generous community, her children still had Christmas. Churches rallied to raise money for the family and bought Heather Stepp new glasses. Members of the Valley Hill Fire Department came to visit her in the hospital. They brought Ely and his brother and sister a toy.

“It's good to see at a time when everything's so bad that people are still giving,” Scott Bradburn said.

“And right at Christmas when people don't have it, they still gave,” added Heather's mother.

“We still have a long road ahead of us, but we're doing better,” Heather said. “God has a plan for us.”

<p>Heather Stepp and her 7-month-old son, Ely, seriously injured in a head-on collision Dec. 3, attended a praise service at their church Sunday with countless friends and family. </p><p>Heather Stepp's mother and father say the two are living proof of the healing acts of prayer. Doctors doubted Ely would survive, but a brain hemorrhage turned out to be a popped blood vessel. They also questioned whether Heather Stepp would ever walk again. </p><p>Trooper Bryan Stroup said Paul Jeffrey Satterfield, 56, of Hendersonville was driving under the influence of drugs when he crossed the center line on Kanuga Road near London Road at about 12:15 p.m. on Dec. 3. Troopers say he crashed head-on into the SUV Heather Stepp was driving. </p><p>The force of the impact left Ely in critical condition with a brain injury, broken left leg, a cut on his liver and a skull fracture. Heather Stepp was admitted to the hospital with two broken feet in addition to a crushed left ankle and a broken right elbow.</p><p>Heather Stepp says she remembers the wreck. She remembers asking about her baby; she even remembers being placed in the MAMA helicopter that carried them from Pardee Hospital to Mission Hospital. But her first week in the hospital when Ely's prognosis was touch-and-go is a blur.</p><p>Family members said it was a “waiting game” in the early days, as Ely's doctor cut his sedation and pain medications and waited to gauge the extent of his brain damage. Ely moved and the family cheered... with caution.</p><p>“Pardee told us to go ahead and be prepared that he wasn't going to make it,” said Melissa Bradburn, Heather Stepp's mother.</p><p>“They said that with his brain injury his head would swell. They just didn't know how much; that they'd have to observe it for the next 72 hours,” Heather Stepp added. “And each day, his brain didn't swell. That was the life-threatening part — how much his brain would swell.”</p><p>The brain hemorrhage, doctors noted, turned out to be “just a blood vessel that had popped” and cleared up completely, she said.</p><p>Scott Bradburn, Heather Stepp's father, was with Ely when a nurse came in, fearing the worst, to run an EEG test. She was surprised with the results.</p><p>“She showed me the black line and she said, 'A normal 6-month-old would have six spikes and he has four-and-a-half,'” recalled Scott Bradburn. </p><p>“They weren't expecting that at all,” Melissa Bradburn said. “He's just been a miracle.”</p><p>Heather Stepp knows the stories now, but for a week she was clueless to Ely's health, hanging on to the words of others who told her he was OK. </p><p>“I think it was because God knew everything would be okay and didn't want me to have to worry,” she said. “There was a man that stayed with me (at the wreck) and talked to me and made sure I was okay, but I don't remember his name... All I could think about was, how is Ely, where is Ely? So I kept asking, 'How is Ely? Where is he?' The man beside me said, 'Ely is fine. They're over there working on him and he's fine.' That helped calm me down. If they would have told me he's not breathing, I would have tried to be out of that car.”</p><p>At the hospital, Ely was given a tracheal intubation to help him breathe and was fitted with a feeding tube. Doctors said the assistance could be permanent, and told Heather Stepp they would have to send him home with a 24-hour nurse. But, to test his recovery, a doctor removed Ely's feeding and tracheostomy tubes before he left the hospital Dec. 27. Ely breathes and eats on his own today.</p><p>Heather Stepp, who was released from the hospital about a week after the wreck, returned to stay with her son. </p><p>Ely still wears a harness to help his broken femur heal, but is otherwise a happy baby. His voice is still a little hoarse from the tracheostomy, Heather Stepp said, but every sound he makes is music to her ears. </p><p>“I believe God won't give me anything I couldn't handle, and I couldn't handle losing him,” she said.</p><p>Doctors will still have to keep an eye on Ely's development with the brain injury, but for now, he's doing well.</p><p>“He's the miracle baby,” Melissa Bradburn said. “That's what people are calling him.”</p><p><b>A long road</b></p><p>Heather Stepp can walk on her right foot, but her right arm and left foot will take a while to heal. It will be a long road to recovery and probably six months before she can start physical therapy. At least one more surgery will be needed on her foot.</p><p>“They're going to have to fuse my ankle so I won't be able to run or do any of those kinds of activities. I probably won't be able to stand for long periods of time,” she said. </p><p>Churches all over the country, from Florida to Washington, have been praying for the Stepps. </p><p>“It's just been amazing,” Melissa Bradburn said. “I know that's the reason why Ely and her both are doing so well.”</p><p>The family has received cards by the bushels, stamped from all over, and more than 1,100 have followed Heather and Ely's recovery on Facebook.</p><p>“I mainly want to thank everybody for all their thoughts and prayers and all of the donations into our fund,” Heather Stepp said. “Everybody has been so generous and anytime I go anywhere people just hand me money and tell me that I'm in their prayers... We wouldn't have been able to get along without them and without their generosity.”</p><p>She and her husband, Bo, were out of work in December — Heather recovering with Bo by her side — but with the help of a generous community, her children still had Christmas. Churches rallied to raise money for the family and bought Heather Stepp new glasses. Members of the Valley Hill Fire Department came to visit her in the hospital. They brought Ely and his brother and sister a toy.</p><p>“It's good to see at a time when everything's so bad that people are still giving,” Scott Bradburn said. </p><p>“And right at Christmas when people don't have it, they still gave,” added Heather's mother.</p><p>“We still have a long road ahead of us, but we're doing better,” Heather said. “God has a plan for us.” </p><p>Reach Weaver at emily.weaver@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7867.</p>